In the early 60s Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A-Changin’” had already set the mood for a tumultuous but eventful decade.
…Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’…
In the summer of ’69 I had finished my freshman year of high school and was mentally preparing for my sophomore year. And the times were a-changin’… anti-war demonstrations, a lunar landing with man’s first walk on the moon, the Manson murders, and Woodstock.
Woodstock had a lineup of performers that included Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, and Sly & the Family Stone. But Joni Mitchell never got there. To avoid missing a scheduled appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show,” she watched the weekend TV coverage from her NYC hotel room and composed “Woodstock,” a song that ultimately captured the essence of the festival.
…By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration…
Living in the Midwest, I was far removed from the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival…at least 1,423 miles away. I was not one of the thousands who attended this epic event held August 15-17 at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York. The closest I ever came to experiencing those “three days of peace, music…and love” was when I watched the 1970 Oscar-winning documentary film, “Woodstock.” By the time I moved to NYC in 1976, Woodstock had already reached cult status and had become a musical phenomenon.
A tribute to “Woodstock,” director Michael Wadleigh’s documentary film.
In 1979, while working at my second job in NYC, I had a supervisor who recounted a tale about heading to Woodstock on his motorcycle 10 years earlier. Unfortunately, his motorcycle broke down along the way. By the time he got it fixed the festival was over and his dream of being there had been crushed. So near and yet so far. Feeling sorry for himself, he turned around and rode back to the Big Apple.
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. I created the posters in this blog to commemorate this peaceful music celebration. Remembering such a historic gathering is always a good reason to party like it’s 1969!
Keeping the spirit of Woodstock alive on its golden anniversary.